George Villalon Jr., a former bodyguard of fugitive ex‑Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, testified on Monday, Oct. 12, that he helped deliver about 20 suitcases containing money to a residence owned by former Speaker Martin Romualdez, as prosecutors presented evidence in Romualdez’s bail hearing before the Sandiganbayan.
According to Villalon’s judicial affidavit, the delivery took place on Nov. 21, 2023, at a property along McKinley Road in Forbes Park, Makati. Prosecutors said his testimony would show that transporting luggage to the residence was part of his duties while working for Co.
During the hearing, prosecutors presented a 13‑second video and two photographs of the suitcases. Villalon said he recorded the footage and sent the images to his wife with the message,
“puro pera laman niyan deliver kay Romualdez.”
Villalon said he no longer had the cellphone used to record the footage. The video submitted in court was retrieved from his Facebook Messenger conversation with his wife, saved to a laptop, and transferred to a USB drive. The defense questioned the recording’s authenticity.
The testimony forms part of the prosecution’s evidence in a ₱7.4‑billion plunder case against Romualdez, Co, and two others over kickbacks from government flood‑control and infrastructure projects.
Romualdez has pleaded not guilty and denied involvement in the scheme. In his Sept. 28 bail petition, he argued that accounts of luggage deliveries did not establish the source or amount of the alleged money, nor prove that he personally received it.
Romualdez attended Monday’s hearing via videoconference from the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas, where he remains detained while seeking temporary release.
The Sandiganbayan Third Division is set to hear his bail petition through Nov. 12, with prosecutors expected to present 23 witnesses. The trial proper is scheduled to begin Nov. 23. The court has yet to rule on the bail request.
